1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method for automatically formatting a display screen upon initialization or refresh to reflect a user's prior resizing of frames with respect to one another.
2. Description of the Related Art
A display screen may comprise a number of rectangular or other shaped areas in which one may run different application programs or display different data. Such areas on the display screen are known as “windows.” Windows are particularly valuable in multitasking environments, allowing one to execute several programs at once and allowing one to see output from all the programs at the same time. Windows operating systems permit windows in a graphical user interface (“GUI”) to be re-dimensioned, and re-positioned on the screens by either moving of the mouse, clicking on appropriate buttons, or other known input. Windows can be arranged so that they do not overlap (tiled windows) or they do overlap (overlaid windows or cascading windows).
As opposed to earlier types of client-server computing wherein each application had its own client program which served as its user interface and had to be separately installed on each user's computer, many applications today are accessed through the World Wide Web or similar web, so called “web applications” or “webapps.” A webapp is an application that's accessed with a web browser over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. Webapps are popular due to the ubiquity of the browser as a client, sometimes called a thin client, and the ability to update and maintain webapps without distributing and installing software on may client computers. Webapps dynamically generate a series of web pages in a standard format supported by common browsers such as HTML/XHTML, the browser acting as the universal client. Client-side scripting in a standard language such as JavaScript is commonly included to add dynamic elements to the user interface.
Information may be displayed at the client side in a number of HTML frames, which may be independent windows or subwindows, allowing certain information to be visible while other views are scrolled or replaced (e.g., in the same window, one frame might include a navigation window, one a static banner, and one a scrollable document). That is framing in terms of the World Wide Web means an area in which there is displayed different documents or applications. The contents of frames may be hosted on the same server as the parent source, or may link in code from another website server such that these external contents are automatically displayed within the frame. Inline HTML frames such as frames within text are referred to as Iframes.
Access to materials on the World Wide Web may be improved by interface of a proxy server between the client and web server, allowing access to a resource either by connecting to a specified server or servicing the resource directly from its cache. Reverse proxy servers, that is proxy servers installed in the neighborhood of one or more webservers, may also be used to improve speed of access of materials on the web by caching static content like pictures and other static graphical content, in aiding in load distribution to several webservers and performing Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption in a more accelerated manner than the webserver could do itself. The proxy server may also perform webapp processing making the client in the client-server architecture network a so-called thin client in depending primarily on the proxy server for processing activities (as opposed to a thick client were the client does as much processing as possible and passes only data required for communications and archival storage to the server).
Users often resize or reorient windows or frames in order to display data in a manner most convenient and useful for them. Unfortunately, when the user exits the system hosting such windows and frames, such desired resized and positioned windows or frames are not stored. Therefore, when the user re-enters the system and wishes to access the same applications which were previously running or displayed in the desired sized and oriented windows and frames, the user must once more resize and reposition the frames and/or windows with respect to one another. This may entail a considerable amount of time and effort, particularly when many frames and/or windows are involved.
There is a need for system and method wherein relative display areas and positions at one point in time between two or more frames and/or windows on a display screen correlative with the data and source of such data therein, can be automatically regenerated at a second point in time after termination and re-entering of the data and source of such data which were previously running in such frames and/or windows.